MADE WITH LOVE NEWS

Here are some tips from Melissa Beight on how she organized the Batonga Foundation benefit at Springside School. We hope that the Springside students experience inspires other young people to get involved and fundraise for organizations supporting women and children globally.

1. Select an NGO that is meaningful to you and create a concept for a fundraising event or sale - Maison Rose - The Batonga Foundation - L'Empire des Enfants2. Contact Made With Love to explain your event and order products to sell3. Select a date4. Select a venue5. Start selling products to fundraise for the event - Recycled Rubber Bracelets for L'Empire des Enfants - Beaded Wrap Bracelet for Maison Rose - Recycled Rubber Bracelets with Swarovski Butterfly for Batonga6. Send out sponsor letters7. Sell tickets/invitations8. Have fun at your event!

Once you choose an NGO to support, get in contact with Made With Love. They will help you learn more about their mission and which NGOs they work with to see which one best fits your interests and event concept. In addition, you can order some of the Made With Love products to sell before and at your event. At our event, in order to maximize our fundraising, we sold entrance tickets and created t-shirts to sell as well as the Batonga and Maison Rose bracelets.

Start planning ahead of time. I came up and met with Mary Jane in January, which is when the idea was brought up about doing a fundraiser for Batonga. I was then able to attend a Batonga event in NYC where I learned much more about the organization itself. When I returned to Philadelphia, I started planning ahead for the event in March and made a calendar and a list of important tasks that needed to be taken care of before the event.

Organize a group of people that can help and divide up the work. Our Fashion Club spearheaded the fashion show at Springside and we divided up into different "committees" so that each one had a different job the night of the event. In addition, two weeks before the event, each group scheduled a time-slot every week to sell the Batonga bracelets, Maison Rose bracelets, and t-shirts.

Start advertising early. At the Batonga event in New York, I received an information sheet about Batonga and its mission. To ensure that everyone knew the mission of Batonga, I turned this information into huge posters which we hung around the school advertising the event. This was important because it let people in the community learn more about the event and its significance. At my school, the main attraction to the event was the idea of girls helping girls and people became really excited about coming out and supporting the show.

Sell t-shirts, bracelets, and tickets in advance. As you read earlier, we sold the different bracelets and we made t-shirts with the Batonga logo on them and sold them for $15. In the two weeks before the event, many people wore their t-shirts around school which brought attention to the event.

Send out sponsor letters 3 or 4 weeks prior to the event. Send them to relatives, friends, and people who you know would be interested in supporting the cause. Many people are aware of the Made With Love Project, but there are also many people who do not, so in addition to raising money, it helps bring more awareness to the different organizations and more people to the event.

Be creative, your event can be a concert , a fashion show , a performance or simply a sale. If you want to get involved, email info@madewithloveinbrazil.com for more information!